The Queen Charlotte Sound

From Wellington, I took the ferry and crossed over to New Zealand's South Island. The boat travelled through the Queen Charlotte Sound. My goal - to hike the Queen Charlotte Track, a 70+ kilometer hiking and mountain-biking trail. I ended up hiking a 15-kilometer section of it from Ship's Cove to Resolution Bay (most of the bays in this area and the Sound itself were named by the British explorer Captain James Cook - the Resolution was the name of his boat). These areas are inaccessible by land. I had to take a water taxi to drop me off at the starting point and pick me up at the end. I could not have asked for a more beautiful day for the hike. It was sunny and warm with not a cloud in the sky. Until about 6 pm, that is. That was when the clouds rolled quickly in. Within an hour the weather completely turned from the height of summer to a cold and wet autumn. And with the change in weather came high winds and perilously stormy sea. The boat ride back was a white-knuckler. Our boat regularly became airborne as it fought its way across the high waves. The boat bounced around so much, some of the seats came loose from their metal supports. The waves crashed above the bow of our boat, and indeed over the windows of our little cabin. I was very thankful we did not capsize.